A warrant to arrest a Wellington tax adviser charged with providing false tax returns totalling over $270,000 is to be issued if he does not show up in court in two weeks.

Patrick John Renshaw, 66, of Ngaio faces 42 charges of aiding and abetting Resource Management Research and Burma Holdings to apply PAYE and student loan deductions to a purpose other than payment to IRD, along with personal charges of knowingly providing false tax returns for himself and Margaret Gallaher, and of declaring a salary he did not receive to get a tax refund.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years jail or a $50,000 fine.

Neither Renshaw nor a lawyer for him were in court when the case was called before Wellington District Court judge David Ongley, who then ordered a warrant to lie in court for two weeks to allow Renshaw to appear.